Well, thanks to a new friend I've just met across the pond via ravelry, I've been convinced to start back blogging. So much has happened between my last post a year ago and this, I don't know where to begin. One thing has remained the same, how busy I am concerning school. However, the end is in sight and I will be a senior this fall. I'm taking Chemistry on-line this summer which isn't too bad if I could convince the kids to stop drinking or throwing out items I'm using to conduct my experiments. Like drinking the Sprite I needed to test hydrogen levels or throwing out the pigment strips I was using to test polarity. I had all my things on one counter and I tell the kids do not TOUCH anything on this counter. I go out to eat with a friend and come back and my test strips are in the trash....WTF? Kids.
Anyway I'm working on Chemistry this week and I'm getting a head start on my senior paper " Barriers to Reentry for Ex-felons" I have some real interesting ideas about the obstacles American society puts up to make it extremely difficult for ex-felons to reenter the community, but I will get into that in another post. I must say that I am glad to be back and I look forward to venting and sharing observations from my distorted and myopic viewpoint....LOL.
I am getting some reading done while on semi break, I'm on the third book of the No.1 Ladies
Detective Agency, light reading but very interesting culturally, especially for a work of fiction that must be based on some truth. Well it's 11:20 at night and I'm starting to bore myself, so signing off and looking forward to many more posts!!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Busy Busy
I have been so busy lately with school I haven't had a chance to blog too much of anything. I don't know if too much has been happening since my last blog. I'm back on the internet dating scene after a 3 year hiatus. Haven't really had too much luck. I'm talking to a couple of people but nothing has gone on past that. Not even phone calls yet. Anyway coming up on finals can't wait to finally get this semester over with. I am gettting so tired of going to school right now I can't even think straight......
Thursday, February 21, 2008
My Daughter the Artichoke
I never thought I would ever compare my daughter to a complicated vegetable.But after another one of our blow-ups that we have been having lately, that is all that comes to my mind. My daughter is an artichoke.
If you have ever eaten one you know how much work it can be for the little bit of pay off you get. First they are extremely prickly their leaves end in little sharp barbs that have to be cut off before you can eat it. You trim the leaves,cut off the finger thick stem and then you have to boil it down to soften it up. After it is a firm soft you cut it in half and dig out all the "choke" of the artichoke only then can you peel off the leaves and use your teeth to scrape off the fleshy part of the leaf usually dipped in garlic butter. After you basically have a discarded pile of leaf trash on your plate you get down to the actual good part of the artichoke the heart which is about the size of a large egg yolk. You cut that up in small pieces to make it last longer dip those small pieces in butter and then you are done. I always feel silly after I've eaten an artichoke because the small amount of what you get to eat makes no sense for the amount of trash this small vegetable generates.
Now, don't get me wrong I'm not calling my daughter trash but sometimes after a conversation with her I definitely feel emotionally trashed. She's very prickly with a hard outer shell. By the time you boil her down scrape her out add some butter to smooth her out and get down to the heart of the matter,you are very wore out. I always have the feeling that was too much work!! I'm not quite sure how my daughter developed her artichoke personality, maybe it's a defense mechanism from the divorce, you know don't let people get to close. But it's the source of a lot of our bickering thats been going on lately.I especially don't know how I got an artichoke daughter when I consider myself more of an eggplant kind of personality. Before I actually ate one I thought to myself WOW a purple plant(my favorite color) this has got to be good, but then you cook it and the purple turns gray and the inside is all mushy. That's me loud and colorful on the outside but add some heat and I go all mushy. My tastes are kind of bland too, like I wish I was a snappy dresser, just can't seem to know what to do...anyway I digress. Well if someone can find a good recipe for artichokes and eggplants then maybe me and my daughter can work this thing out...By the way my daughter loves artichokes maybe they understand each other.
If you have ever eaten one you know how much work it can be for the little bit of pay off you get. First they are extremely prickly their leaves end in little sharp barbs that have to be cut off before you can eat it. You trim the leaves,cut off the finger thick stem and then you have to boil it down to soften it up. After it is a firm soft you cut it in half and dig out all the "choke" of the artichoke only then can you peel off the leaves and use your teeth to scrape off the fleshy part of the leaf usually dipped in garlic butter. After you basically have a discarded pile of leaf trash on your plate you get down to the actual good part of the artichoke the heart which is about the size of a large egg yolk. You cut that up in small pieces to make it last longer dip those small pieces in butter and then you are done. I always feel silly after I've eaten an artichoke because the small amount of what you get to eat makes no sense for the amount of trash this small vegetable generates.
Now, don't get me wrong I'm not calling my daughter trash but sometimes after a conversation with her I definitely feel emotionally trashed. She's very prickly with a hard outer shell. By the time you boil her down scrape her out add some butter to smooth her out and get down to the heart of the matter,you are very wore out. I always have the feeling that was too much work!! I'm not quite sure how my daughter developed her artichoke personality, maybe it's a defense mechanism from the divorce, you know don't let people get to close. But it's the source of a lot of our bickering thats been going on lately.I especially don't know how I got an artichoke daughter when I consider myself more of an eggplant kind of personality. Before I actually ate one I thought to myself WOW a purple plant(my favorite color) this has got to be good, but then you cook it and the purple turns gray and the inside is all mushy. That's me loud and colorful on the outside but add some heat and I go all mushy. My tastes are kind of bland too, like I wish I was a snappy dresser, just can't seem to know what to do...anyway I digress. Well if someone can find a good recipe for artichokes and eggplants then maybe me and my daughter can work this thing out...By the way my daughter loves artichokes maybe they understand each other.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
What's in a name ?
I'd like to start this blog by explaining my name choice and the name of this blog. The reason I picked Phoenix Rising is because I feel like the mythical bird that has risen out of the ashes.
A phoenix is a mythical bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually, as long as the old one. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.[citation needed]
And that's exactly how I feel, I have been through so much in my life as have a lot of people,and just like the Phoenix, still I rise, reborn, each new me different but yet the same. Just like the bird I also regenerate each time I'm hurt or wounded by a foe. And just like the poem posted still I rise... For those of you in the knitting community it's like leaving a little of myself in each knitting project I complete but yet taking something from the yarn and adding to me, self esteem , confidence, skill and a love of crafting with my hands.
I first started knitting and crotcheting as a means to cope with the tremendous amount of stress I was in. I was married to someone who was very emotionally abusive and treated me as if I couldn't do anything right, I think I even came to believe that myself. I became a compulsive crafter trying my hand at a little bit of everything, crotcheting, knitting, sewing. Taking on these giant projects that would take months to complete. And I always completed them because at the end of the day I had something in my hand concrete proof that I could do something right, I can make something do something. Even though he tried to kill my spirit and steal who I was, at the end of the day I had something that could say see I'm still here. Here's a scarf or a quilt or a dress that proves I'm still here you haven't killed me yet. I made these so here's proof that I'm worth something because these items are worthwhile. And in all the years(17) that I was married to him, I never made him a damn thing!!!!! And guess what...STILL I RISE.
A phoenix is a mythical bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually, as long as the old one. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.[citation needed]
And that's exactly how I feel, I have been through so much in my life as have a lot of people,and just like the Phoenix, still I rise, reborn, each new me different but yet the same. Just like the bird I also regenerate each time I'm hurt or wounded by a foe. And just like the poem posted still I rise... For those of you in the knitting community it's like leaving a little of myself in each knitting project I complete but yet taking something from the yarn and adding to me, self esteem , confidence, skill and a love of crafting with my hands.
I first started knitting and crotcheting as a means to cope with the tremendous amount of stress I was in. I was married to someone who was very emotionally abusive and treated me as if I couldn't do anything right, I think I even came to believe that myself. I became a compulsive crafter trying my hand at a little bit of everything, crotcheting, knitting, sewing. Taking on these giant projects that would take months to complete. And I always completed them because at the end of the day I had something in my hand concrete proof that I could do something right, I can make something do something. Even though he tried to kill my spirit and steal who I was, at the end of the day I had something that could say see I'm still here. Here's a scarf or a quilt or a dress that proves I'm still here you haven't killed me yet. I made these so here's proof that I'm worth something because these items are worthwhile. And in all the years(17) that I was married to him, I never made him a damn thing!!!!! And guess what...STILL I RISE.
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